Raspberry Surprise - 1988 Mazda pickup truck

A Mazda with Friends In Low Places

Friendship is an extremely valuable thing, especially when you're knee-deep in building your ride. We all depend on our friends to help us with our projects. Most everyone has needed a ride at one time or another while their truck was in pieces getting the suspension chromed. Or how about the time you wanted to body drop your truck and needed your friends to come by and help you carry the bed to the other side of the garage? Having friends is what this sport is all about, and without them, our minis might never make it out of the garage. Having friends is what made building Justin Jordan's '88 Mazdawg possible. They were there for him no matter what he needed done to his ride.

Getting his truck to lay frame was the first order of business for Justin. He knew that if his truck was to get any kind of respect on the street, it needed to be low and adjustable. His friend Brad Houk was able to hook him up in this area. Brad took possession of Justin's mini and then installed a fully adjustable airbag suspension. The front suspension was dialed in with Firestone 25-C airbags installed onto custom mounts and paired with Toxic short shocks. The rear suspension was a bit more involved and required the raising of the gas tank for clearance purposes. Also, to ensure that the truck would lay out completely, Brad cut out the old leaf springs that held the rearend in place and installed a chrome-plated, reverse-triangulated four-link. He then step-notched the framerails above the rear axle and installed another pair of Firestone bags under custom chrome-plated crossmembers. At that point, another pair of Toxic shocks was bolted to the lower four-link mounts and the framerails. Before plumbing the entire suspension system with 3/8-inch air line, Brad cut out the inner front fenders and rear wheelwells in order to clear the new 17-inch Elite rims and low-profile tires that Justin had installed. By now Justin's Mazda was lookin' pretty fly with its new stance, but he knew he could do better.

With the truck back at his house, Justin feverishly tore it apart to complete his next mod -- a body drop. This time, Justin enlisted the help of Ronald Ramsey of Tulsa to help him channel his truck's body 2-1/2 inches down over the frame. Ronald provided all the advice and direction Justin could hope for, and the job went off without a hitch.

The next stop for Justin's Mazda included being delivered into the hands of good friend Matt Bowman for some paint and body mods.

Matt went to work on the newly hammered mini, shaving the door handles, the emblems, the keyholes, the gas door, and the body seams. He then frenched the license plate into the tailgate at an angle and added a molded roll pan to the list of body mods. When the tedious task of filling, sanding, and prepping the entire body was complete, Matt sprayed a generous amount of PPG Raspberry paint over the smooth exterior of Justin's ride. While he was at it, he even sprayed the frame and suspension to match. After the paint cured and was buffed out, a Trenz phantom billet grille was installed along with a chrome Toyota bumper and valance.

The interior of Justin's ride is one area that he can take nearly all the credit for. With the exception of the seats that were covered in gray tweed by Custom Masters Interior in Oklahoma City, the interior is all Justin. He got down with the spray adhesive and a grip of gray tweed to cover the smoothed out door panels, the dash, floor, the center console, and the bed. He also went that extra mile to shave the glovebox and the A/C vents. Finishing up the interior and providing his beats are a Pioneer CD head unit, a set of 5-1/4-inch Clarion Coaxial speakers, and a two-channel Alpine amplifier that Justin installed himself.

Justin's mini is a testament to the power of friendship. Now that it made its way into the magazine, it will remind us all, at least for the month of April, just how cool our friends and clubmates are. Justin would like to thank his girlfriend Tammy, Lower Level for six years of support, Ronald Ramsey, Joey Meyer, Brad Houk, and everyone else who helped along the way.